The Ducks’ Ryan Getzlaf celebrates his first-period goal against the Dallas Stars in Game 2 of the first round series against Dallas. It’s going to take more stellar perfornamces from Getzlaf for the win a playoff series for the first time since 2007. He’s wearing a cage to protect the stitches he needed to get in his mouth after taking a slapshot off the face in Game 1.

DALLAS – Several franchise records set this season have earned the Ducks comparisons with the 2006-07 Stanley Cup title version, but there is a long road to travel to be worthy of standing next to that standard bearer.

They’ve taken two steps in that direction, and the Ducks are in the heart of Texas looking to leap further ahead of Dallas with chances to grab a stranglehold on their Western Conference quarterfinal series, starting with Game 3 on Monday night.

Wins in the first two games at home have put the West’s top seed in a favorable position. The last time the Ducks have done so in a playoff series was when they ultimately eliminated Ottawa in five games to hoist the Cup.

A win either Monday or in Game 4 on Wednesday would put them in position for their first playoff series win since 2009. And yet Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau offered a reminder Sunday that nothing has been won.

“The opportunity is there but quite frankly, all we’ve done is hold serve,” Boudreau said. “There’s a great saying that you’re not leading a series until you win a game on the other team’s home ice.

“With us, it’s continuous as we’ve gone through all year. Let’s just take this one game at a time. Let’s see where it ends up. Let’s see how we fare. And then wake up Tuesday morning and reassess where we’re at for Wednesday.”

The Ducks haven’t been infallible in building a 2-0 lead. They’ve given Dallas too many quality scoring chances and been undisciplined, allowing the Stars to have 11 power plays and score twice.

And they expect American Airlines Center to have a raucous, electric atmosphere as it’ll play host to its first Stanley Cup playoff game in six years. It made winning two at home all the more meaningful, which they didn’t do in 2011 against Nashville and 2013 against Detroit.

“When you’re in a playoff series and you’re trying to win four games, when you can win two right off the bat, it helps you a lot,” Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf said. “As opposed to battling to stay ahead all the time.”

More singular efforts from Getzlaf will go a long way. Injured after taking a slap shot off his face in Game 1 and fatigued from being with his wife, Paige, to welcome the birth of their third child, the Ducks’ leader responded with a memorable performance.

Wearing a cage to protect a mouth swollen and full of stitches, Getzlaf set the tone by ramming Dallas defenseman Alex Goligoski in the glass on his first shift. He then scored on a brilliant solo effort and assisted on Andrew Cogliano’s shorthanded eventual game-winner.

“Just looking at him, the greatness – and I hate to use this since he’s still playing and he’s got a lot of years left in him – to me was defined that he looked like [a mess], he was obviously tired, he doesn’t like wearing a shield and the first shift, he goes in and runs somebody to show everybody, ‘I’m fine. I am good. Don’t think you’re going to take advantage of me tonight,’” Boudreau said.

“I thought that was such a telltale sign of a superstar.”

The Ducks will also see their chances at applying the finishing touch increase if they keep getting quality netminding from Frederik Andersen. Andersen has made Boudreau’s decision to start him over Jonas Hiller look prescient.

Despite coming in with just 28 NHL games and none in the postseason, Andersen was solid in Game 1 and even better in Game 2. Andersen made 34 saves in the 3-2 win, several of them coming early in the first period to back up his mistake-prone teammates.

Hiller is backing up as Boudreau wants an experienced hand around if Andersen falters. But the NHL’s only Danish-born goalie is so far giving the vibe that he doesn’t want to let the net go.

“Well, he certainly is playing like he doesn’t want to give it up,” Boudreau said. “He has the team’s faith. There’s no doubt about that.”

It is Andersen’s ability to make the big save at the time when it is most needed that has earned their confidence. Dallas defenseman Trevor Daley was left shaking his head when Andersen lunged back to snare his shot at tying the score in the third period.

Those stops are what Ducks winger Daniel Winnik calls “momentum changers.” Winnik believes Andersen has benefited greatly from the tutelage of goaltending consultants Dwayne Roloson in Anaheim and Sudarshan Maharaj in Norfolk (Va.).

“He’s done it all year,” Winnik said. “It’s no fluke that he’s 20-5 on the season. Really calm. Really big. You see him in the room before [the game]. He’s just really calm all the time. I think everybody expected it from him.

“I mean I was right beside Daley when he shot it and I thought it went in. He just makes those big-time saves that teams need to win.”

NOTES

It will be Andersen and Hiller for the Ducks right now as they sent goalie John Gibson to Norfolk (AHL) along with defenseman Sami Vatanen.

Boudreau wants both to see game action, and they could this week as the Admirals begin their Calder Cup playoff series Friday against Manchester (N.H.), the Kings’ AHL affiliate.

“At some point, if we do anything in the playoffs, we’ll need them,” Boudreau said. “But I’d rather need them when they’ve been playing than not playing.”

The Ducks also called up left wing Emerson Etem (Long Beach) to have another forward available as Matt Beleskey continues to be bugged by a lower-body injury that kept him out of Game 2.

Beleskey, who didn’t practice Sunday, was working with strength and conditioning coach Sean Skahan but his outlook doesn’t look promising. “If he plays tomorrow, it’s a miracle,” Boudreau said.

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